Empire Tea Services
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Emperor’s pride leaf & whole bud green tea from China with bergamot and orange peel. The dry leaf smells of bergamot and tea. The leaf varies from tannish to dark brown. There are bits of orange peel in the blend. According to the website this is good for multiple steeps. I used 1tsp of leaf – approx 2g and I use sweetener. My mug holds about 10 ounces.
First steep – 3minutes. The leaves did not appear to have completely opened but this is a full leaf tea. The clarity of the brew is amazingly crystal clear with only a mild amber color. I thought maybe I had not used enough tea or needed to steep longer. Tasting says otherwise. The bergamot is more flowery than citrus and very strong. I couldn’t separate the orange from the bergamot in this or any of the subsequent steeps. I want to be careful with the wording of this review as this is obviously a quality tea. For my tastes the bergamot is overdone. As a reference point, I like my bergamot a little less bright than say Twinings. This tea is more along the lines of Republic of Tea Earl Greyer in taste. I can’t pick out the tea in the brew on the first steep.
Second steep – 4 minutes. The leaves have opened all the way. The brew is still crystal clear and very light in color. Bergamot still strong.
Third steep – 4 minutes. Starting to taste tea. Bergamot is less intense. This is the best cup so far. A little sediment in the bottom of the cup.
Forth steep – 4 minutes. Surprised how much the flavor is still present.
Fifth steep – 5 minutes. Very light color. Still flavorful.
Empire tea says 1 tsp will make six cups. I am fully convinced this will go another steep but my bladder is not up to the task.
Conclusion: 100g of tea will make 250 cups of quality tea if you want to take it that far. That’s like 4 cents a cup. Now since I think the first two cups are too overly flavored I plan to cut this with another earl green I have that lacks enough flavoring and settle for two cups (maybe 3) more in line with my tastes.
Preparation
I think that this just may be the BEST lavender black tea I’ve ever had. The lavender is so true to the flavor of the flower without tasting soapy or perfume-y at all. It is incredibly fragrant and just… really really good. If you like lavender you should really try this one.
The Lemon Myrtle and spearmint MAKE this! It helps with the chamomile taste I usually don’t get overly excited about. This is satisfying when it’s all said and done. Pretty good.
Starry Night one of my absolute favorite works of art.
Rachel: It is my favorite too. One of my favorite tea mugs has a print of that painting on it too. I love Van Gogh. The first time I saw the painting I had tears in my eyes. It is so beautiful and moving.
Van Gogh fan here too!!! :)
Tea and Van Gogh could there be a correlation here?
This is a good Clouds & Mist. The flavor has a nice complexity to it. Unlike a Chinese Sencha, which is quite buttery in composition, this has intriguing savory notes to it. It starts out sweet, a sour note approaches at mid-sip, and a hint of bitter hits just after the sour note. A very pleasing complexity that keeps the palate interested.
This is VERY good! I REALLY like this! REALLY LIKE THIS! The spices are nice and even and not over powering and the vanilla is an awesome accompaniment to everything! I can pick up on a bit of a citrus note but the aroma is wonderful! I think I will have another cup! Thanks LiberTEAs!!!!
Another gift from LiberTEAs! Thanks, girlie! :)
This is one happy Ceylon…dancing around in my cup! YAY!
It’s not much for scent but it’s a pretty independent and well-informed on how to be a well-rounded ceylon – black tasting type tea!
A great go-to Ceylon indeed!
I was unable to locate this one their website yesterday – I’m backlogging – but wanted to say this is a remarkable black tea! Really lovely! It’s strong but not astringent and there is a smooth finish on it but it never strays from being a great black tea…no fuss! YUM!
This is the last bag of this flavor that I have, and I’ll probably be getting more. I’ll have to check and see if it comes in packs bigger than 10 bags.
It’s definitely a winter tea. Slightly berry, with a good spice blend to balance the black tea. As far as what’s in it…well, the bag wrapper says “black tea and flavorings.” Still, it’s pretty darn good for a bagged tea whose age is slightly questionable.
Preparation
Kind of a citrusy rooibos. The rooibos itself is a bit different from others I’ve had…it’s not quite as woodsy/grassy, but more lemony. Seems more like honeybush than rooibos. Which I suppose would be good for some people, but I’d like a stronger, true rooibos taste with a stronger citrus note.
Preparation
I finally figured out what the smell of this tea reminds me of.
Cyanide.
:-/
Preparation
Oh no! Is it weird that I really want to steep and smell that tea now? Too bad I can’t scratch and sniff my computer screen :)
Meghann, I’ll happily send you a bag to steep and sniff!!
That’d be great. Although I don’t think I’ve ever sniffed cyanide to compare it to, which isn’t a bad thing.
Nope, it’s definitely not a bad thing! I’ll pack some up whenever your teas are ready from Cuppa (and whenever I brave the traffic/road closures downtown).
For the last few years I have used Ahmad earl green. It is a loose leaf of very large broken pieces. 500g (a little over a pound) can be found for around 6 USD. That’s cheap. Lately the quality has been hit or miss (imagine that, its 6 USD!), with one pound having great flavor and the next simply tasting of a pleasant green tea. I decided to cut the Ahmad lacking bergamot with the Empire tea in equal portions. The result is really good. The excellent quality of the Empire tea with a greatly toned down bergamot. It will still produce multiple steeps – at least 3 – and I like the flavor of all of them. I am going to bump up my rating with the qualifier that when I reorder the Empire tea I will order a equal portion of green tea for a custom blend.